Featured Album: De La Soul - Stakes Is HighStakes Is HighThe Bizness feat. Common
Twenty years ago almost to the day, Stakes Is High was released. It marked a new direction for De La Soul and a change of sound, their first LP without Prince Paul on production. It's a comment on the state of hip-hop at the time.

Atmosphere - Ringo
Minnesota duo with their eighth LP Fishing Blues.

Fightmilk - Some Boys
Don't know much about these apart from this is really good.

Palm Honey - You Stole My Blackout
Another one I know little of. Apart from they're from Reading.

Evans The Death - Haunted Wheelchair
London next. Off the LP Vanilla which came out a couple of weeks ago.

Ought - Beautiful Blue Sky
Another one from a while back - only a year this time. The Montreal band released Sun Coming Down in 2015, but this is a sublime track. Absolutely stunning.

Featured Album: De La Soul - Stakes Is HighItzsoweezee
Another cracking track from our featured LP. They were unmatched in this period.

Portishead - SOS
A cover of the ABBA record in memoriam of Jo Cox. Haunting, beautiful.

The Editor - Partly Cloudy
Not something I know much about other than the artist hails from Michigan. Saxy.

Oh Boy! - A Bird In The Hand
From Northampton with a new single that came out last Friday.

Featured album: The Fall - The UnutterableCyber InsektTwo Librans
Their 21st LP came out in 2000 and was seen as one of their best. A career peak according to The Guardian, in fact. It is really good. And that's why it's here. Two Librans is probably my favourite track of theirs ever.

Alice Jemima - So
Devonian songstress with a hint of late '90s UK garage about it. The EP is Liquorice and it's out on Friday.

Trust Fund - Together
A new album coming soon from these. We Have Always Lived In The Harolds is out in two weeks.

Plaid - Do Matter
A new album from these too, which is always welcome. The Digging Remedy came out last week.

The KVB - White Walls
Their latest LP came out in March, but this is the first I've heard. Pretty darn good I reckon.

Cobby & Mallinder - Trans Europe Express
Former Hey, Rube! partners team up once again with a cover of the Kraftwerk classic.

Featured album: The Fall - The UnutterableDevolute
If you don't love The Fall, we'll struggle to be friends.

Dan Le Sac - Frederick
10 years on from his debut with Scroobius Pip comes an album of assorted works. Cherished, Overthrow [06-16] is available as a pay-what-you-like download.

Holy Fuck - Xed Eyes
The first LP in six years from the Toronto electronica merchants. Congrats came out late last month.

Public Service Broadcasting - E.V.A (Dutch Uncles remix)
A new LP of remixes of their last album, The Race For Space, is out on Friday and this is the pick, mixed by Dutch Uncles. Two top bands in one spot. What's not to like?

Stone Roses - Beautiful Thing
The first track released since their reformation was rubbish. Paint by numbers boredom. This is not. This is a Stone Roses track, ideal for people of a certain vintage.

Tuesday, 7 June 2016

Last day of my summer holidays. And it almost feels like I planned this out.

The Spills - Floyd
Starting off with a few tracks I've had waiting for a while, The Spills are from Wakefield and their second LP, which this comes from, came out last autumn.

Vertical Slump - Chanteuse
Another one from last autumn, this is off an EP called Ruined Value.

Fews - The Zoo
This has been around as a single for a while now, but the album - Means - only came out late last month. They're Swedish, but based in London now.

Featured album: Teenage Fanclub - Grand PrixSparky's DreamNeil Jung
One of the great LPs to come from these isles. Don't take my word for it. Twice in national surveys - in the Observer in 2004 and Q in 2000 - this has been ranked as the 72nd greatest British LP of all time. It was the Bellshill quartet's 5th album, released in 1995. And it still sounds great.

Ashley Reaks - Billy Goat Hill
Time to get a bit.... experimental for the next few tracks. And experiments either work or don't, so I appreciate some of the next 20 minutes or so won't be for everyone. What you must agree on though is that the title of Ashley Reaks's new LP is quite spectacular: If I Hadn't Become An Artist And A Musician I Would Have Been A Serial Killer Or Killed Myself.

Biscuit Mouth - The Sea Son, Caspian
Possibly not quite as out there as Reaks's work, but definitely not mainstream, is this from Derby. Doing It Right And Doing It Well is out as of last Friday.

Yak - Smile
I've been aware of Yak for a while, so it was something of a surprise to learn that Plastic People which came out two weeks ago is in fact their debut release. Clearly they've been honing their craft for some time.

Loose Meat - Daisy Chain
We played a track by these off their self-titled debut LP last week, liked it, so are doing so again.

Man Of Moon - Sign
From Edinburgh, this is off the EP Medicine which is out on Friday.

Featured album: Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix

Mellow Doubt

Another track from Grand Prix, an album which you should go and listen to right after you've finished listening to us.

The Avalanches - Frankie Sinatra

Taking it electronic now, and here's something. It was 16 years ago that Melbourne's Avalanches released their debut LP Since I Left You. Now comes a follow-up, Wildflower. Exciting.

K.O.I.S.T.E.R - Dots

Seattle producer Jake Koistinen is K.O.I.S.T.E.R. I came across this arsing around on Soundcloud. It was research!

Not Waving - 24

A new act on acclaimed dance label Diagonal are these from London. The LP is Animals and it came out in February.

Kid606 - Born Slippy/Audion/Plastikman/Matrixmann

A curio from Venezuelan producer Miguel Trost De Pedro, aka Kid606. Just something he was messing about with, apparently, but it sure works for me.